What most former students can't find in their recollections is the harshly divisive Steve Bannon they read about today. For two years, Bannon was educated by the top business professors in the country. In stadium-style rooms, he learned how to lead, how to market, and how to spot a business opportunity that could appeal to the masses. Interviews with more than two dozen of his former classmates illustrate that many view him as a brilliant thinker, even if they don't always agree with his politics.

He was gregarious. He was preppy, often dressed in a favorite yellow sweater. As one classmate put it, "He didn't strike me as out of the mainstream." Minorities in the class said he didn't make them feel uncomfortable. A Jewish classmate said he never heard him say anything anti-Semitic. "I don't think there's a racist bone in his body," said Thomas Meredith, who sat with Bannon in the skydeck.

Bannon grew up in a working-class family living in Richmond. While home from Virginia Tech during summer breaks, he would spend long hours working at a local junkyard. "He would come home looking like a coal miner," said his younger brother, Chris. "Mom would make him strip down to his boxers and spray him off with a hose before he could come in."

After graduating from college, he joined the Navy, where he served on ships abroad before working at the Pentagon. While there, he earned a master's degree in national security studies from Georgetown University.

"As a woman, minority [Asian], an immigrant, and as onetime supporter of Hillary Clinton, I believe I can be objective in my assessment of Steve Bannon," Thai Lee said in an e-mail. "The Steve I knew in 1980's was a very smart, studious, and polite young man. I have never heard Steve speak ill of women, minorities, or others."

Scot Vorse, a flip-flop-wearing Californian who had never traveled east of Denver, was wandering around, feeling a little out of place. Listening to new classmates -- talking about McKinsey this and consulting firm that -- only further alienated him. Then, Bannon approached. He seemed to have a knack for looking after those who were younger, those who weren't sure they belonged.

Not long after introductions, Bannon asked Vorse to be in his study group, the beginning of a crucial relationship. The two men would grow extremely close, later working together at Goldman Sachs, forming their own financial firm, and joining forces at Breitbart. On election night, Vorse was one of those Bannon called.